


More Than Just DNA

by AllyKat901



Category: NCIS
Genre: Eventual Tiva, F/M, Jibbs - Freeform, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-01-19 17:44:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12414915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyKat901/pseuds/AllyKat901
Summary: When someone from Gibbs' past arrives back in his life unexpectedly Jenny steps up to help her old partner. How will she balance work, home, her past and her relationships with the people present in her life today?





	1. From Past to Present

ONE

NCIS Director Jenny Shepard looked up from the report she was reading when her office door opened and Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs walked in carrying a bag of takeout.

"Don't you ever knock?" She asked, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"I can take my food and leave." He retorted, shooting her a look before settling on her couch.

Jenny sighed before closing her file and moving over to sit beside him, "what did you get?" 

"Chinese." He replied making a plate up and handing it to her.

"My ass and thighs hate you but my stomach thanks you."

"Your ass is fine Jen." He commented around a bite of chicken.

Jenny just rolled her eyes before going back to her dinner, when she had first started working at the Navy Yard they had occasionally talked outside of the office or when they ran into each other but since Gibbs had come back from his Margarita Safari in Mexico as they were calling it, they regularly had dinner together when they had to stay late.

"So what's the occasion tonight?" Jenny asked.

"Do I need an occasion?" Gibbs questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope but there normally is one."

"Need to take off for an hour tomorrow morning, D'Arcy called and needs me to come in to sign something. Probably has to do with the last case we had, there might be something for you to sign too." 

"And there's the occasion." Jenny muttered, "what time is it at?" 

"At 0900."

"Just pick me up at my place, I'll go in with you," Jenny replied, wiping her lips with her napkin.

"You don't have to I'll just bring you the papers."

"That's okay, to be honest, I wouldn't mind sleeping in past 0530," Jenny said with a smirk.

Gibbs chuckled, "alright I'll pick you up at 0830." 

N*C*I*S

She looked around the beige room with curious blue eyes, she had been called out of school an hour earlier to meet with her social worker, who had yet to show up. The volunteer driver from child welfare had dropped her off over half an hour ago and she had been waiting in the dull room ever since, there was a basket full of toys in one corner and a desk against one wall and two overly stuffed chairs, one of which she was occupying. She looked back to the book in her lap, Advanced Calculus was killing her this year and between watching her younger foster siblings, her other classes and her chores she was quickly falling behind.

She looked up when the door opened to see her social worker Melody walk in and take a seat in the chair opposite her.

"How're you doing Kelly?" Melody asked, folding her hands on her lap in front of her.

"I'm fine, would be better if I wasn't missing Calculus." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sorry about that, how is school going?" 

"It's fine, you wouldn't have called me out of school just to talk Mel, what's going on?" Kelly asked suspiciously.

"You know we've been looking for your father," when Kelly nodded she continued, "we've found him, Kelly."

"You found him?" Kelly asked incredulously, she had hoped but never really believed that they would find him. "Where is he?"

“He’s meeting with a worker, they’re filling him in on everything as we speak.” Melody replied, pulling out a brief file on the man in question, “we put together a bit of information about him for you, all public record so no rules were broken.” Melody promised, knowing Kelly was a stickler for rules.   
Kelly reached for the file and stared at the cover, taking a deep breath before opening it.

N*C*I*S

"Now Special Agent Gibbs, we're aware this is a lot to take in, however, we would like you to take some time an consider your options here," D'Arcy said, eyeing the silver-haired man before her. "You do not have to do anything, we can schedule visits if you wish to be in contact with Kelly or we can just leave things as they are."

"Is there any way that I can get her back?" Gibbs asked without hesitating.

"Well you never signed away your parental rights and since you are in fact her father you certainly have a legal claim to her, my concern would be that you work unpredictable hours and you are a single man, those things don't tend to sit well with a judge especially when you consider making sure Kelly has a stable home life." D'Arcy replied honestly, “I know you Gibbs and I’d trust you with my own children, you have a good track record as a guardian but that was always temporary.”

"What if he had someone to help him?" 

D'Arcy and Gibbs both looked to the woman who sat beside him.

"That would help his case, it would also be beneficial for Kelly to have a woman present in her life and in her home," D'Arcy replied. 

"What would I have to do to be considered a fit foster parent?" She asked.

"I would have to look over your file but you don't have a criminal record and you have a steady job, the only issue I can see a judge having is once again your working hours and possibly living arrangements."

"I could cut back on my office hours and work more from home." She replied.

"Could we have a few minutes to talk alone?" Gibbs asked, cutting Jenny off.

"Of course, take your time," D'Arcy replied excusing herself.

"What're you doing Jen?" He asked incredulously.

She looked at the man who sat beside her, his face relatively void of emotion but she could see the confusion and anguish behind his eyes at the thought of his daughter.

"I'm helping you, Jethro." She replied softly.

"You don't have to do this."

"I know I don't, don't ask me why I'm doing it just let me do it." 

"I want my daughter back, but I don't want you to resent me for that, don't want you to feel trapped, can’t ask you to do this, Jen.” 

“Jethro, you’re not asking, I’m telling you I’m doing it. I was with you after your accident I saw how devastated you were when you realized they weren't coming back, Shannon isn't coming back but Kelly, by some miracle, she's here Jethro, she's here, she's alive and she's healthy. I couldn't help you after your accident but I can help you now and I'm not taking no for an answer." Jenny replied firmly.

Gibbs had known the woman in front of him for almost ten years, he knew that when she was determined to do something she would do it and there was no stopping her, and right now she had a look of sheer determination in her eyes.

"Not gonna try and stop you, I know there's no point. What about living arrangements? We're probably going to have to live together to make this work, what happens if one of us starts seeing someone or we want some space?" Gibbs asked practically.

"Jethro I don't have time to date and last time I check neither do you but if you think it's going to be an issue I'll go back to my house for the night if you want to have someone over," Jenny replied rolling her eyes. "That is if you want to stay at your place."

“I don’t know, my house probably isn’t big enough for three of us, especially if the team wants to spend the night.” Gibbs reasoned.

“Are you saying you want to move?” Jenny questioned

“It’s an option.” He responded with a shrug, “just need a minute to think, what do you want to do?”  
"I'm okay with whatever you want to do… I need to get out of my house, it's time to move on."

Gibbs nodded, he understood that for her that house was a constant reminder of her father’s death, a reminder that she hadn’t been able to save him like he hadn’t been able to save his wife and daughter, or so he had thought. There was a quick knock on the door before D’Arcy poked her head in.

“Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to give you this,” she stated, handing them each a paper. “If you decide you want to get custody this is a list of things you’ll need to figure out before you go before a judge. Basics such as living arrangements, financial situations and scheduling all need to be taken into consideration.”

“When can I see her?” Gibbs asked, ignoring the paper in his hands.

“We’ve informed Kelly that we found you, at this point in time she wants to meet you but she’s not ready to do it just yet, she’s feeling a bit overwhelmed, we’ll give you a call either later today or tomorrow to set something up. As far as getting custody of her the sooner you have a plan of action the sooner we can petition the judge for a custody transfer.”

“We need some time to talk, is there any way we can meet with you later today or tomorrow when we have a clearer plan?” Jenny asked, knowing Gibbs needed a few minutes to process everything.

“I can meet with you both at seven o’clock tonight if that’ll work for you.” D’Arcy offered.

“That’s perfect.” Jenny replied, standing up and placing a hand on Gibbs’ shoulder, “we’ll talk about our options today and have a better idea of what we’re doing tonight.”


	2. Chapter 2

Two

Jenny sat at the dining room table at Gibbs’ house and looked at the large amounts of paper spread out in front of her. She and Gibbs had spent the last three hours going over their options and had finally decided on how they would work the most basic things involving Kelly, they had agreed that Gibbs’ house was too small for the three of them especially with the members of his team coming and going and that Jenny’s house just wasn’t suited to having a kid, even an older one living in it. 

“So we had a talk with Kelly today,” D’Arcy, who Gibbs had let in a moment earlier, began. “She was shocked, to say the least, that you were interested in taking her, she’s open to the idea but she’s very hesitant to leave her foster sister, they’ve been together for the last two years and she’s become very attached to her.” 

“How old is she?” Jenny asked.

“Ivy is only two years old,” D’arcy replied.

“What if we were to foster her as well?” Jenny asked when she saw Gibbs’ face fall just a bit at the idea that he may not get his daughter back.

“That’s a lot of responsibility, especially for two people with high-stress jobs and no family to help them out,” D’Arcy replied.

“We may not have a conventional family but we do have a support system.” Jenny countered.

“That would help your case if this is something you’re interested in doing, but you really should think this over, talk about it, it’s a big decision.” 

Jenny looked over at Gibbs and gave him just the smallest of nods, if this was what he wanted then she would do it without hesitation, he raised an eyebrow at her as if to say are you sure? She nodded again, it may have been years since they had worked closely together but they were still capable of unspoken communication.

“We’ll do it,” Gibbs stated firmly.

“Do you have any sort of plan figured out?” D’Arcy asked.

“We talked about it and decided that we want to look into moving, Jethro’s house definitely isn’t big enough for four people and my house isn’t very kid friendly.” Jenny started, “as far as work, I’ll work four days at the Navy Yard and the rest from home, unless I have an important meeting, anytime I have to leave the country Jethro will take time off of work to stay home with the kids.”

“DiNozzo’s proven he can run the team by himself if he needs to and I’ve got enough vacation time saved up that I can take whatever time I need to.” Gibbs added.

“And what about your financial situation, kids aren’t cheap especially if you’re planning on moving.” D’Arcy pointed out.

“We decided to sell my house which will give us more than enough to buy a new house, we both make good money and neither of us has spent much in the last ten years, my father left a sizeable amount when he died as well, we’ll split everything fifty-fifty,” Jenny informed her.

“Like Jen said, haven’t spent much since Shan died it’s been sitting collecting interest, money’s not an issue,” Gibbs added.

“Alright, now what about school for Kelly? And daycare for Ivy?” 

“NCIS has a daycare for agents with kids, security is good and only the best workers are hired, as for school, we’ll make sure that she’ll be able to go where she wants to if at all possible,” Jenny replied. 

“Kelly has agreed to arrange a meeting for sometime this week since it is only the very beginning of the school year we’d like to transfer custody as soon as possible so that in the event she has to change schools she won’t be too far behind,” D’Arcy explained.

“How soon can we do it?” Gibbs asked.

“Since you’re moving a judge probably won’t agree to transfer custody until you have found a place, so the sooner you can do that the better, I’m going to say that it’ll take about a month before you can take them home.” D’Arcy estimated, “that is if you can find a house.” 

“We’ll find something,” Gibbs assured her confidently, he would move mountains to get his daughter back and if his biggest obstacle was finding a house then he would solve that problem as quickly as possible.

“Do you have anyone who could write you recommendation letters?” D’Arcy asked, “it would really help your case if the judge could see that you have a support system in place.”

“We’ll find a few people.” Jenny assured her, “is there anything else we can do?”

“Right now you’re doing everything you can, I know both of you fairly well professionally and I can honestly say that if you stick to the plan you’ve outlined you shouldn’t have a problem finding a judge willing to grant you custody. Special Agent Gibbs since you’re already a foster parent that won’t be an issue but Director you will need to take a few classes.” 

“What kind of classes?” Jenny asked, not unwilling to do it.

“They basically just outline the do’s and don’t’s of parenting and how to handle the system and such.” D’Arcy explained, “they’re not difficult.”

“I’ll do whatever I need to,” Jenny replied firmly.

“I’m glad to hear that.” D’Arcy responded with a grin, “now since it is getting late I’ll let you both return to your evening and I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”

Jenny remained seated at the table while Gibbs showed D’Arcy out and took a moment to let her brain catch up with the events of the day, it seemed like every single aspect of her life was changing within a matter of seconds. None of these changes were particularly unwelcome, they were just another twist in the wild ride her life had become but she still needed a moment to process and she was unsure and slightly worried about how Gibbs was dealing with everything.

“You sure you wanna do this?” A gruff voice asked from behind her.

Jenny turned around and looked at the silver-haired man leaning against the dining room entrance, his steely blue eyes piercing her bright green ones.

“Are you sure?” She turned his question back on him softly.

“Still think it’s a dream.” He admitted quietly, “you didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m sure.” She replied. 

Gibbs nodded and sat down across from her at the table, he sifted through the paper in front of him, more to keep his hands busy than to read anything.

“When are you going to tell your team?” Jenny asked a few minutes later, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Thought we’d tell them tomorrow, probably need their help.” He replied with a shrug.

“Do you want me there?” Jenny asked since Gibbs had left on his mini-retirement she had become closer to his team but sometimes she still felt like an outsider looking in on a close-knit family.

“You’re a pretty important part of the plan, probably wouldn’t hurt.” He replied with a small smirk. 

Jenny nodded before looking across the table to study Gibbs’ face, as usual, he had a firmly placed mask over his emotions. The sniper in him allowed him to hide any emotion he didn’t want others to see, it was something she had loved about him on the job but when it came to their personal relationship it was one of the things that had ultimately driven them apart.

“Are you okay, Jethro?” She asked quietly.

“Not sure.” He answered honestly, “I’m gonna go work on my boat.” He informed her before standing up, “thanks, Jen,” he added, pausing in the doorway to the kitchen before disappearing down the stairs.

Jenny watched him leave before letting her head fall back and closing her eyes for a moment, he masked it well but she could still hear the confusion and anguish in his voice that was always present when he talked or thought about his daughter.

Gibbs stood in his basement and stared at the boat in front of him, it was quickly taking shape, he had thrown himself into his work when he had returned from Mexico, trying to forget about his wife and daughter. Now it would be impossible. His most desired wish was being granted, his daughter was being given back to him and he was terrified that he would wake up and it would all have been a dream or a very sick joke. The man who feared nothing was terrified, terrified that she would be taken away again or that looking at her would remind him too much of Shannon, the first woman he had fallen in love with. He wanted his daughter back so badly but he was unsure how he would be able to handle it and how the family he had pieced together fit in. Would they accept her? Would they support Gibbs and ultimately Jenny in what they were trying to do? He knew Tony and Jenny still had their issues after the La Grenouille debacle, he still had issues with it but he hoped that they could put it to the side at least enough so that they could take care of the kids together.

He sighed and picked up his sander, hoping to take some of his anxiety and frustration out on his boat, if nothing else it would get him one step closer to finishing the damn thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I would love to hear from you guys! Please remember I own nothing, it all belongs to DBP and CBS!
> 
> ~Ally


	3. Telling

Three

Jenny Shepard stared at the group in front of her, they had originally planned to invite the team to Gibbs’ house to tell them about Kelly but they had caught a case and hadn’t had a free moment until well after the time they had planned to have them over. They had decided to gather them in Jenny’s office instead, since the majority of the building had already gone home they had the privacy they had wanted any way. 

“Okay what’s going on? Boss said we couldn’t go home until we came up here, I’m tired and want to get to bed.” Special Agent Anthony ‘Tony’ DiNozzo whined. 

Mossad liaison Officer Ziva David lightly elbowed Tony, attempting to get him to shut up so they could hear what Jenny had to say, she wanted to get home as much as he did but she knew that the more he talked the longer it would take.

“Jethro and I called you up here because we had an announcement to make.” Jenny started, only to be cut off by excited voices.

"You're back together!" This from Tony.  
   
"You're getting married!" Exclaimed Jimmy Palmer.  
   
"No wait  I've got it, you're having a baby!" Abby Sciuto yelled excitedly.   
   
"Oh I bet you it has Jenny's hair and Gibbs' eyes!" Tony added, only to be cut off by a sharp whistle from Gibbs.  
   
"No we are not together, we are certainly not getting married and we're not having a baby, do I look pregnant to you? Abby and Tony were slightly right though, there are going to be two new members of the team and the family and one definitely has Jethro's eyes but her hair is all Shannon's." Jenny replied, waiting a moment for that last fact to sink in, she wasn't disappointed when she heard whispers of Kelly's name as wide eyes turned her way, Gibbs stood slightly behind her, silently observing his teams reactions.  
   
"Open the files in front of you, as you know Shannon and Kelly Gibbs were in an accident when Kelly was four years old, both died in the accident or so we thought. Kelly was put into witness protection, they were afraid Hernandez or one of his gang would use Kelly as leverage to get information out of Jethro on the murder Shannon witnessed. Jethro got a call from social services yesterday, Kelly had the option to start looking for him and she decided to take it, we found out yesterday morning."  
   
"So what will happen to her now?" Ziva asked.  
   
"Jethro had a lower chance of getting sole custody so I agreed to share custody with him; before you ask yes that means we will be living together that's where you all come in.” Jenny explained, peeking over her shoulder at Gibbs who was leaning against the window sill behind her desk. 

“Who’re the second new member?” Tony asked.

“Kelly didn’t want to leave her foster sister so we agreed to take her. Ivy McClellan just turned two years old.” Gibbs spoke up. 

“A baby!” Forensic Scientist Abby Sciuto squealed excitedly, “oh I’m so excited! What do you need from us?”

“Well my place isn’t big enough for four people, we need to find a house and move fairly quickly so we can get custody.” Gibbs replied.

“If I may interrupt I may have a solution to that problem, once mother moved into the nursing home I decided to find a new, smaller home for myself and recently found a lovely little home just outside the city, that being said I will need to sell my house. It is plenty big enough for four people and it is on a lovely property, very child friendly, if I could keep it in the family I would prefer that and you could move in whenever you wish.” Ducky offered, “you could of course make whatever changes you wish but I have already taken possession of the new house and moved most of my belongings over I just need to sort through mothers belongings or find somewhere to store them.”

“That might actually work Duck, what do you think Jen?” Gibbs asked turning to the woman in question.

“Why don’t we head out and you guys can talk about the details, call and let us know whatever you need us to do.” Special Agent Timothy ‘Tim’ McGee offered, pulling a reluctant Abby with him.

“Thank you Agent McGee, we’ll call all of you tomorrow morning and let you know what we’re going to do okay?” Jenny replied, watching as they all nodded and held in all the questions they wanted to ask. 

Once the group was gone Jenny turned to Ducky and Gibbs who were still talking quietly in front of her desk.

“I have slowly been moving into the new house, I wanted to be settled in before I told anyone I had moved but I can be out within a few days if the team is willing to aid me.” Ducky said.

“What do you think Jen?” Gibbs asked, once again turning to the woman.

“I’ve always loved your house Ducky, but are you sure you’re ready to sell?” Jenny asked, she had been to Ducky’s house several times when she was a probie on Gibbs’ team and had loved the old charm and size of the house, not to mention the several acres of property it sat on.

“Oh yes my dear, the old place could use some young life in it and I do believe you and Jethro could give it that.” Ducky replied, “I do wish to encourage you both in this but I must ask have you thought this all the way through, what it will mean for both of you?” 

Jenny smiled at the older man who had become like a father or much older brother to her over the years, he had always been the voice of reason, the one to support her when she was unsure of herself.

“It’s moved pretty fast but we’ve talked it all over and we’re going to make it work.” Jenny replied, “we’re in a good place now.” She added, looking at Gibbs hesitantly, who in turn gave her a small nod. 

“Well I hope you both know that you have a family to support you through this.” Ducky reminded both of them gently, “why don’t you both come by the house tomorrow and take a look around, you can decided whether or not you want to take it and decide what changes you would like to make. If you choose to take it you can move in whenever you would like, I will have my realtor and lawyer draw up the papers. Now if you’ll excuse me I will let both of you discuss things, I really must be going.” 

They both said goodnight to the elderly Scotsman before Jenny sat down in her chair behind her desk and looked over at Gibbs who was leaning on the chair in front of her desk.

“Well what do ya think?” Gibbs asked, carefully studying the woman in front of him.

“I’ve always loved Ducky’s house, and it’s plenty big enough for four people and the team to come by whenever they want, we know it’s in good shape.” She replied honestly.

Gibbs watched her carefully, waiting for her right eye to twitch, her one tell. When it didn’t twitch he nodded, “we’re probably gonna have to paint and get some new furniture that we both like.” 

“I was thinking of taking your team out of rotation for two or three days so we could get that all done, D’Arcy said that if we found a house the whole process would be quicker. As long as we have everything set up for the kids we don’t have to be completely moved in before we can get custody. We’ll do whatever renovations we need to and set up the kids rooms and then move in our stuff when we have time.” Jenny said, the gears in her head turning and already mentally making a list of things to be done.

“Are you going to be able to take them out of rotation?” Gibbs asked skeptically, “how’re you planning on explaining that to SecNav.”

“You’re team has an abundance of time off stored up, no one will ask questions, Balboa’s team will take over for a few days, I’m going to call in Vance and say I have a family issue to deal with and take a few days leave.” Jenny replied.

“What’re we telling people about our arrangement?” Gibbs asked.

“Right now nothing, at least until we figure everything out, it’s safer and easier for everyone that way.” Jenny replied reasonably.

Gibbs nodded, “Ducky’s place has six bedrooms and space for an office, we can do it up so you have somewhere to work when you want to work from home where the kids can’t get to anything.” 

“Why don’t we meet at Ducky’s in the morning? I’ll send in the leave requests for everyone tonight and we can get to work tomorrow afternoon.” Jenny suggested, “the sooner we can get it done the sooner we can get custody, we need to get reference letters too.” 

“I’ll talk to them about it tomorrow, I have a feeling the words functional mute and workaholic will be used in them.” Gibbs grumbled, wondering how the hell he was going to get recommendation letters he could actually use.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I promise I didn't forget about this story I have up until chapter twenty typed up and plan to do one or two updates a week up until Christmas as well as a few holiday one shots.... Please don't forget that I own nothing otherwise Jenny would still be alive :(... (Although I'm very much liking Jack Sloan, the newest addition to the team, how do y'all fell about her? Let me know in the comments!) Have an awesome Thanksgiving to everyone in the States! 
> 
> ~Ally

**Author's Note:**

> Hello All! This is my first NCIS fanfiction story so go easy on me pretty please! I love to hear constructive feedback and reviews on my work, I can't make it better if I don't know what's wrong with it! Some of you may recognize the beginning of this story and I can promise you it is in no way stolen, my sister wrote it and published it on FF and hasn't had the time to work on it, I have permission from her to use it and to spin the story in a new way!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
